Summary
Riya and Chacko, two kanthari catalysts visited several kantharis in East Africa earlier this year. This week’s blogpost is about the inspirational work of Thumbs Up Academy in Gulu, Uganda.
Thumbs Up Uganda, the parent organization of Thumbs Up Academy works with parents from different districts of Uganda (Gulu, Amuru, Noya and Oyam) to ensure that they understand the basic needs of their children with disabilities so that they can address them at the family level.
By Riya and Chacko
We stayed in the guest rooms of the school and enjoyed Samuel Odwar and his team’s gracious hospitality throughout the time we were in Gulu. Of all the wonderful children there, Sunday and James turned out to be our favourites. Both are physically disabled with all their limbs being affected.
But these two are the most mischievous and active. Even though both have wheelchairs, they do not like using them. Instead, James moves on all fours while Sunday rolls. We even had a competition to check who is faster.
James comes from an abusive family and even during summer holidays, he stays back on campus with Samuel. H is raising a few rabbits as his pets. He religiously feeds and takes care of them; and is quite proud to be in charge.
Thumbs up academy is not just a ‘special school’…. It is a “VERY special school” which we agree with wholeheartedly. They focus mainly on how children can learn to associate with one another and learn together. The teachers are all trained well to ensure that they can cater to the needs of all the children, especially sign language to teach the deaf students. After the kanthari training, Thumbs Up Academy started in 2015. Since Samuel himself is a trained special educator, he started off by teaching 7 students with disabilities in a single thatched hut (that remains on his now sprawling campus with more than half-a-dozen buildings). With the growing demand for education in the locality, they started admitting more children, both with and without disabilities. Currently, they have a primary school till grade 7 and in the last academic year, they had 182 students (68 with disabilities and 114 without disabilities) and 24 staff members. They have children who are deaf, blind, have disabilities and/or intellectual disabilities.
Samuel is a father of 5 children and his eldest son, the ever-smiling Rafael, is deaf. Being a young father without much knowledge about disabilities he faced a lot of challenges from the community. He was mocked and made fun of by his friends and family. He was advised on leaving Rafael with his grandmother. Even his wife left him because her family thought his family had done something wrong in the past and his child is paying for it. Rafael is now a “17-year-old man”, as his father fondly describes him. Rafael wants to become a mechanic and is looking forward to vocational training.
Initially convincing parents of children without disabilities to send their children to this school was a challenge. The parents had a misconception that disabilities are contagious and would be passed on to their children. Back in the day, it was Samuel who had to move around the communities to convince parents to send their children to school. But now he is very pleased that the parents themselves bring their children.
Thumbs Up Academy follows the curriculum set by the government but tailor it to an inclusive approach. In an inclusive education system, children learn how to create friendships and accept everyone as they are. And when they grow up, children with disabilities realise that they do not have to isolate themselves and learn to ask for help. And those without disabilities grow up to be empathetic to all.
A 14-year-old girl named Michelle told us how she liked Thumbs Up Academy better than the school she was in before. She said, “I learned from my disabled friends how we should not undermine our friends, we should take them the way they are. So, I am happy to be with them and learn together.” Michelle basically explained the crux of the problem and the solution. To borrow from George Bush’s eclectic vocabulary, we “misunderestimate” our disabled counterparts. We make the grave mistake of underestimating them. A great solution is exposure and working together from a young age.
When they join the school, the children are assessed and based on their intellectual abilities are put in different grades. The parents we talked to have noticed significant improvements in social skills and knowledge in the subjects of their interest.
Like all organizations, Thumbs Up has its challenges too. Until 2020, they were able to run smoothly without any external support as the parents donated in cash or kind (usually food). But since the pandemic, it has been a struggle to manage the running costs including food and salaries of the staff. Also, the compound is not very wheelchair friendly despite having several wheelchair users. Solving this problem is a priority for Samuel.
At our farewell, it was a first for me as I watched deaf kids and kids on crutches put on a great performance with their non-disabled peers. I mean it with all my heart when I say that If I was to be born again and forced to go to school, I would wish it to be Thumbs Up Academy. This is what schools should be like. Full of fun, laughter, learning and integration.
The new academic year had just begun, and students were slowly re-joining. We asked why the students join so slowly even when they know the starting date well in advance.
“TIA, man… TIA… This is Africa.” Samuel explained that most African households usually have 3+ children, and due to limited resources, they prioritise who would join school first and children with disabilities are the least in this list.
More about Samuel’s work can be found at: https://thumbsupuganda.org/
